Dreaming of Zhou Gong

by Traci Harding

  ‘Did I say it was?’ Dan replied, his mood unchanged.

  ‘Then where did our friendship go?’ Fen implored him to answer. ‘Why are you treating me like I am the bad guy?’

  ‘Was I?’ Dan faked surprise. ‘My apologies. We know you have never been led astray.’

  ‘Ah!’ Fen saw his beef now. ‘I was no one of consequence, nor was my lover. The same could not be said of you and Hudan.’

  ‘Yes, thank you, Fen. That has been made painfully clear to me.’ The duke was obviously using a considerable amount of restraint to stay civil. ‘I’m sorry if you find my resulting bad mood offensive, but I feel sure it shall improve given time.’

  Fen backed down, content they would get past this falling out. ‘Please come to Li Shan.’

  ‘Absolutely not.’ Dan wasn’t budging on that issue. ‘But you can leave the cub, I’ll take care of her.’

  The duke’s agreement was pleasing to Fen, and he picked up his charge to hand her over. ‘You have to cuddle her to keep her warm.’

  ‘Aw … must I?’ Dan grumbled, as Ling Hu was plonked on his lap.

  ‘I shall return this evening.’ Fen patted her head, and was off out the door. He paused in the hallway wondering what the duke would do next. Would he, a) put the cub back on the floor, b) cuddle her as instructed, or c) get peed on and become very angry? Fen backed up quietly to see the duke smiling down at the cub as he played with her. It was the happiest he’d seen Dan since the birth, so Fen was content to leave them both.

  ‘Tian, damn it all!’ Fen heard Dan holler when he was halfway down the hall, and so he sped up his pace to make good his escape before the duke came after him.

  There had never been a wedding on Li Shan, and the cloister was abuzz with excitement. The entire house was decorated with autumn blooms, which proved a much more difficult task without Fen on hand to help.

  Ji Fa and Fen Gong were the only outsiders to join the festivities, apart from the groom himself, and as Yi Wu presided over the ceremony in the heaven’s garden courtyard, Hudan felt one absence very deeply. It was difficult to know whether to be proud of Dan for not attending, or to feel wounded. Was he feeling the separation like she was, or did he despise her now? It didn’t matter, she supposed, as long as history was back on track.

  Hudan was getting used to saying goodbye, but she and Huxin had never thought to see this particular day — yet here it was. The king, Shi, Fen and the twins were already on board the ferry.

  The cubs were fighting healthy although had yet to do their first shift. The female of the pair had been called Ji Zhen, meaning precious, rare, true and pure. Her twin brother had been named Ji Kao, a name chosen to honour Shi’s eldest brother, Bo Yi Kao.

  ‘You take good care of yourself and your new family,’ Hudan began, tears welling from the first word.

  Huxin forced a smile. ‘I wish I could say come and visit us,’ she managed to say though choked up. It was rare that Huxin was suffocated by emotion.

  ‘Me too,’ Hudan nodded in complete sympathy. ‘Have a great life!’ She threw her arms around her sister, her smile and tears bursting through, as they hugged tightly.

  ‘I hope you find what you seek on Li Shan,’ Huxin replied, ‘but if you do not … you know where I am.’

  Hudan nodded, too teary to speak as her twin boarded the ferry to join her new husband. Hudan waved them off, smiling on the outside and feeling emptied from within. Once the barge passed out of the cavern, Hudan drew a deep breath to decide if she was going to collapse into tears or maintain a calm state of acceptance.

  This was it. The adventure was over and it was back to the rigours of everyday life on Li Shan, but without Fen or Huxin.

  When Hudan released her breath without falling apart, she figured that the past six months had drained her dry of every emotion she had. Or was this delayed shock? Whatever the case, she welcomed the small comfort of feeling numb as she turned about and went back to her cloistered life.

  During the dry cold days of winter, Dan and Fen made good progress on their urban planning project and on the duke’s Wu training — the lord’s attitude had picked up after the wedding and he seemed almost back to the man he’d been before Hudan had spurned him.

  Ling Hu, now the size of a large dog, had grown strong, and the tigress followed Fen absolutely everywhere. Much to the duke’s surprise and relief, she had the same respect for the Hall of Records as her master and only chewed on the pillows and the furnishings in the chamber — she was also very partial to the duke’s boots. But her favourite toy was Fen, and through the coldest part of the year that saw Haojing blanketed in snow, the young tigress delighted in using the white camouflage to stalk her master. On a couple of occasions, even Dan fell victim to her stealth. To make the game a little fairer, Fen had taken to dressing in white and covered his dark hair with a white hood. As the winter months at court were a little boring, when the queen’s maids caught Fen and Ling Hu at their game, the ladies joined in, and tried to distract the tigress and hide Fen from her. The queen could not have been more delighted and it became a regular event at court until the snow melted into slush, not suitable for ladies to run about on. But they still gathered every afternoon on the balcony to watch Fen toy with the beast … or vice versa.

  A tigress in court was not all fun and games, however, as trying to separate her from her master was impossible. Even in a council meeting with the king, with guards posted at every door, somehow Ling Hu managed to get in without being detected until she nudged up against Fen to announce her arrival.

  ‘How did you get in here? I am so sorry, majesty,’ Fen had been forced to apologise, but the king would not hear it. He had been more worried about how the incident reflected on his guards.

  By the time the new prince was due to be born, everyone had given up trying to train Ling Hu to wait for Fen elsewhere. So sweet was the nature of the tigress, that not even the queen was averse to having her present at the morning check-up.

  ‘Good morning, majesties.’ Fen entered the royal sitting room where the king and queen were taking breakfast, and Ling Hu was right beside him.

  ‘It is, isn’t it?’ Fa replied, very chipper.

  ‘Hmmm,’ Yi Jiang frowned, rubbing her back. ‘It is mornings like these when I have to wonder why I took that beautiful body you gave back to me, and did this to it.’ She rubbed her very swollen belly.

  ‘You look radiant,’ Fa rebutted her complaint with his normal flair. ‘Tell her, Fen.’

  ‘I absolutely agree, majesty,’ Fen said with a beaming smile.

  ‘Perhaps once you are done with me, I might agree …’ She smothered a moan as she stood up belly first, and Fa was quick to give her a hand.

  ‘Just a few more weeks and you’ll have your body back.’ The king kissed her forehead. ‘Fen will see to that. And we shall have another son.’

  Perhaps the king did not see the fear behind her smile, but Fen saw it, and it made him more determined that, this time around, the queen would endure and emerge from labour in much better shape.

  ‘I praise Tian for you, Fen, every day,’ Yi Jiang said once her husband had departed. ‘Because of you, I hold no fear for myself or this child.’

  ‘That is well, majesty, for you and your child are my sole purpose for being … except for Ling Hu here,’ he allowed, patting his animal friend on the head.

  ‘Yes,’ the queen laughed, ‘I do believe Ling Hu is the envy of every lady in my court.’

  Fen just grinned, shrugged and went quiet, as he did every time she mentioned ladies in his presence.

  ‘Come, Fen, you must like one of them?’ she appealed.

  ‘They are all so lovely, I could not choose,’ he joked, diplomatically.

  ‘Then have them all,’ she insisted, to Fen’s great distress, and the tigress gave a whimper as she picked up on his discomfort. Fen stroked her in reassurance. ‘Perhaps not?’ the queen said, realising her error. ‘Are you sure she is not a shifter like her mother?’<
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  ‘Quite sure, majesty. I’ve had word from my sister that Ling Hu’s siblings have begun shifting form now, but are only half the size of Ling Hu here.’

  ‘It is rather exotic to have shifters in the family,’ the queen said with some delight, as it gave their royal line a superhuman status, ‘but visiting the cousins is going to be an adventure.’

  ‘The prince can practise with Ling Hu,’ Fen suggested, ‘who is also his cousin.’

  ‘Why so she is!’ The queen had obviously not considered that, and picked some sweetmeat from the breakfast table to give Ling Hu in return for some tiger affection.

  But when the queen moved to rise from cuddling the animal, she gripped her belly. ‘Ah!’

  ‘Majesty!’ Fen caught her and aided her back to a seat, but even once she was seated, Yi Jiang would not let go of his hand. ‘Just breathe,’ he advised, allowing her to grip him and absorb his calm.

  At last, she gave a deep exhale as the contraction passed. ‘I think he is making his move.’ The queen turned her sights to Fen, her eyes full of hope and horror.

  ‘Have no fear, majesty,’ Fen knelt before the queen, ‘by this time tomorrow you shall be a content and happy woman.’

  The queen’s chamber was prepared and the king notified, and for most of the day Yi Jiang experienced light contractions. It was around dinner time her waters burst and the labour pains became more frequent and long lasting. Fen knew things were about to get intense and, suspecting he may not get another opportunity this side of the birth, he asked to be excused for a moment when the king arrived to check on his wife.

  ‘No, you cannot leave me.’ Yi Jiang refused to let him go.

  Fen badly needed to relieve himself, and Ling Hu was very restless also.

  ‘I shall just have to suffice for a moment,’ the king said, aiding Fen out of Yi Jiang’s killer grip, and wrapping it around his own hand. ‘I really am quite concerned about this addiction you have to our healer.’

  ‘Just one more day and I shall give him up, but not today!’ she wailed in her pain, as Fen and Ling Hu made a hasty exit.

  ‘How goes progress?’ Zhou Gong Dan was waiting in the next room, and Fen was surprised to see him.

  ‘I thought you would work through the drama,’ Fen said, rapidly heading toward the back doors of the royal chambers.

  ‘Have you seen our king? He is a bundle of nerves!’ Dan explained, moving with the young count as far as the door outside. ‘So all goes well?’ Dan stopped in the double doorway, as Fen and his tigress proceeded across the verandah.

  ‘Of course!’ Fen grinned, and gave a wave. ‘I shall return presently.’ He jogged down the back stairs and ran into the garden after the tigress, who was already waiting at the gate to the outer grounds where he always took her to do her business. Shi had taken his pet tigers to Shao, and so his tigress had the run of the place. When Fen reached her Ling Hu gave a whimper and a growl.

  ‘I am hurrying.’ He released the latch, the gate swung open and Ling Hu was off and sprinting across the open grass. Fen followed at a slower pace. There was a lot of cloud cover and the night was black as pitch, so he did not venture far before relieving himself. ‘Ah …’ The discharge was a relief and pleasure.

  He’d just finished doing up his trousers when he heard Ling Hu whimper and drop. ‘Ling Hu!’ Fen called softly, as her hearing was excellent. In the silence, he detected a risk to the two beings in his care at present, which set his heart pounding in his throat. His impulse was to run to Ling Hu’s aid, but he could not risk being injured himself — the queen took priority.

  Fen turned about and ran toward the gate, when the sting of a sharp object lodging itself in his right butt cheek took the leg out from underneath him and he fell to the ground. ‘No!’ He attempted to yell, but only a small whimper came out. He reached back to pull the offending item out to discover it was a dart, and not an arrow as he’d originally thought. ‘I’ve been drugged …’

  Two dark-clad persons approached and, sitting him up, they drew around his neck a leather band from which hung a dark stone that felt like ice when it made contact with his skin. The charm also felt heavy, and ominous to the point of being nauseating. Or perhaps it was the drugs making him feel woozy? As his hands and feet were bound, Fen blacked out.

  The text Dan was reading was highly engrossing and he didn’t notice how long Fen had been gone until Ji Fa emerged from the queen’s chamber in search of him.

  Dan laid aside the bamboo scroll, and looking at the candle alongside him, found it had receded more than expected. ‘He hasn’t come back in yet?’ Ji Fa shook his head.

  This was alarming, as it wasn’t like Fen to shirk his duties, especially one as important as this. ‘I shall grab a lantern and go look for him.’

  ‘I would be grateful,’ Fa emphasised, holding his injured leg, which was clearly threatening to flare up.

  ‘Do not become distressed!’ the duke ordered his king. ‘I shall find him.’

  Just as a precaution, and to get the search completed with haste, Dan conscripted a few guards to accompany him into the garden, but it was the duke who noted the drag marks first. ‘Please, no,’ he uttered, as he followed the marks toward the river.

  ‘Zhou Gong!’ one of the guards yelled from the other direction.

  ‘What is it?’ Dan called back.

  ‘We found the tigress.’

  Dan was afraid to ask. ‘Is she alive?’

  ‘She has been drugged, but she is alive.’ The response gave Dan hope that Fen was alive also, and he ran, following the tracks which led to the river and vanished as expected.

  Dan gripped the hair on his scalp, wanting to rip it out. ‘How stupid!’ Whoever had hatched this kidnap was brilliant. By stealing Fen, they could take out the queen, the king and the new prince in one foul swoop. Only one being knew about the king’s weakness, and Fen’s talent — having seen it first-hand. ‘Dragonface.’

  The duke dropped the lantern and ran back toward the house to inform the king. There was only one person who could find Fen now and that was Jiang Hudan — he needed permission to ride to Li Shan.

  Dan was cursing that he had not yet mastered the art of moving via chi. Even riding full speed in the darkness it took an hour to reach the Li Shan jetty, and as he awaited the arrival of the ferry, the torches of summons blazing to either side of him, he prayed to Tian that it was Jiang Hudan the Great Mother sent to investigate.

  With all the anxiety of his errand, Dan had not considered how this reunion might play out, or how he felt about seeing Hudan again. Just keep it professional.

  As the ferry came to dock at the jetty, a white-clad woman disembarked. ‘Brother Dan,’ came the startled voice, and she slid back her hood to reveal Jiang Hudan.

  ‘Fen has been kidnapped,’ the duke said, quickly stating his case for seeking her out. ‘The queen is in labour and the king’s wound is threatening to recur.’

  Hudan’s eyes opened wide in horror.

  ‘They’ve taken Fen via the river and at night,’ Dan shrugged. ‘By morning it will be too late for the queen and her child, and if they die, you know what that will do to our king. Can you track Fen by psychic means?’

  ‘Yes, of course.’ Hudan waved her sisters back to Li Shan. ‘Do you wish to come with me?’

  ‘If that is convenient.’

  Hudan held out her hands, palm upwards, and Dan took hold.

  After some time, when they still stood there, Dan had to comment, ‘This is no time for romantic gestures.’

  ‘I am not flirting!’ She let go the duke’s hands, frustrated. ‘I can’t find him. I’m being blocked. Which means whoever has my brother has a very good understanding of the dark arts.’

  ‘Well, of course Dragonface is behind this,’ Dan warranted. ‘Who else?’

  ‘Shh,’ Hudan insisted, walking away down the jetty, ‘let me think.’

  ‘Perhaps I should just go and leave you to it?’ he offered.

  ‘Feel f
ree,’ Hudan invited, ‘but wherever you are going, I can get you there faster.’

  ‘Where am I going?’ Dan was at a loss. ‘How on earth am I going to find Fen, if you cannot?’

  ‘Do you have men looking for him already?’ Hudan asked.

  ‘Up and down both sides of the river,’ Dan confirmed.

  ‘Then let me return us to Hoajing and see if there is anything to report,’ Hudan suggested. ‘Then we can wing it from there. I might be able to pick up something from the site where Fen was taken. That might help us.’

  Dan nodded, as he didn’t have a better plan. ‘Our dynasty could fall apart in one night.’ He took hold of her outstretched hands.

  ‘Not on our watch.’ Her smiled was forced but well meaning, and it was the last impression Dan had before light consumed him in a rush, and carried him forth to Haojing.

  Led to the spot where Fen had been taken, Hudan focused herself inward to see if any psychic impression of the event had been left behind. She knelt and held her palms close over the earth. ‘I’m not picking up anything specific, just a cold, sickly feeling and that could just be my reaction to this event.’ She was frustrated. ‘But I am not renowned for my clairvoyance.’ She suddenly looked to Dan. ‘You should try.’

  ‘Me? No,’ he declined.

  Hudan reached up and, gripping the side of his coat, pulled him down beside her. ‘This is no time to be modest.’

  ‘I only see ghosts in the present,’ he explained, ‘not impressions of the past.’

  ‘Have you tried?’ Hudan queried in challenge.

  ‘This is the first opportunity I have had,’ he conceded. ‘Can you talk me through it?’

  ‘Just still your mind, focus on Fen, and see what impressions you get. You could see an image, pick up on a thought or just have a feeling,’ Hudan advised, relieving him of his lantern.

  Eyes closed, Dan took several deep breaths, and then held his hands over the piece of earth where they suspected Fen had fallen. ‘Ah!’ Dan could not suppress the reaction. ‘Intense pain,’ he pointed to his behind. ‘Panic,’ he described the feeling. ‘They are putting something around my neck —’